Former Dublin teacher pleads guilty to federal pornography charges

A former Dublin Scioto High School teacher pleaded guilty Thursday to federal child pornography charges for taking and possessing nude photos of a female student.

Gregory R. Lee, 52, has also been indicted in state court on two counts of sexual battery for having sex with the 15-year-old girl.

He appeared Thursday in federal court in Columbus before U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson, who accepted Lee's guilty pleas on one count of production of child pornography and one count of possession, distribution and receipt of child pornography.

Lee will return to the courtroom in 10 to 12 weeks for sentencing. He faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years on the production charge and a mandatory minimum of five years in prison on the possession, distribution and receipt charges.

Lee — who taught U.S. history, psychology and sociology at the Dublin high school for 22 years — engaged in sex acts with the student in his classroom and in his car at a public park between November 2016 and May 2017, according to the federal complaint.

Lee took nude images of the girl and sent her nude images of himself. The FBI found 234 images of the student in a USB drive recovered from the former teacher's car, including 49 images depicting the girl in various stages of nudity.

The girl’s mother contacted authorities after reading explicit descriptions of at least one act of oral sex between the girl and Lee in her daughter’s personal journal, prompting the investigation in May. That month, the Dublin school district put Lee on administrative leave and demanded he resign, which he did.

Other students have alleged inappropriate behavior by Lee, but prosecutors said Thursday they do not believe there are other victims of any illegal conduct.